Method and apparatus for burning fuel-oil.



A. TLJONES. METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR BURNING FUEL 01 APPLICATION FILEDJUL-I20, 1906.

1,039,752. Patented 0013.1,1912.

Illl ll 1 W $1 AMANDA JONES, OF JUNCTION CITY, KANSAS.

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR BURNING FUEL-OIL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct; 1, 1912.

Application filed July 20, 1906. Serial IZo.,32'I,039.

To all whom "it may concern:

Be it known that I, AMANDA T. JONES, residing at Junction City, Gearycounty, Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inMethods and Apparatus for Burning Fuel-Oil, of which the fol-.

lowing is a specification.

The common and almost universally-accepted method of using oil as a fuelfor furnaces is to deliver the oil through burners constructed tooperate upon the injector principle, the object sought being to deliverthe oil into the combustion chamber in a finely divided condition, itbeing supposed that thereby its combustion is greatly pr0- moted. As aresult of long study and much experimentation, I have discovered thatthe use of atomizers, injectors or burners of the types commonlyemployed may be dispensed with and that with the aid of simpleappliances a more complete combustion of the oil may be secured,resulting in a greater economy of fuel, proportional to the heatdeveloped, than is obtained by present methods.

To this end, my improvements comprise: First: the feeding of liquidfuel, whether of high or low gravity, at such a temperature as to insureliquidity without unnecessary release of gases previous to ignition,directly into the combustion chamber without the intervention ofinjectors or so-called atomizers and without the aid of steam, air orgases for breaking up or atomizing the 011 in preparation for burning.Second: the maintaining, by automatic means, of a corresponding fluidlevel or equilibrium between connecte receptacles (single r induplication) for the liquid fuel on its way from the main tank to theplace of escape, the

primary receptacle being set outside ofthe furnace caslng but proximatethereto and the secondary or feeding receptacle or re ceptacles beinglocated Within a chamber above the fire box but protected. from directcontact with the flames. Third: the use of devices for increasing fuelsupply by fine gradations, whenever the demands of the furnace and thenecessities of work are greater than can be met by the rearrangedfluid-level used for safe handing on first firing. Fourth: feeding theoil in globules by allowing it to overflow from the feeding receptaclesthrough apertures in a checkerwork, constituting a screen against theflames, directly into the furnace, and maintaining the supply preferablyalong the breadth of the fire-box. Fifth: the supply of air to theflames within the fire-box by natural draft through an extended opening,preferably as long as the breadth of the furnace will'allow but no widerthan is essential to the freest possible combustion of the hydro-carbonsgenerated therein by the accumulative heat, the basal line of saidaperture or opening being preferably coincident with the level of thefloor within.

Sixth: the employment in some instances of a forced draft to supplementthe natural draft by the introduction alongthe said draft opening,somewhat above the level of the floor thereof, of twyers or.blast'pipes. Seventh: the proyision of a bridge Wall of suchconformation as to cause the flame to rev lve upon itself or reverberatewithin the fire chamber, whereby more complete combustion andconsequently less smoke is produced. Eighth: the use of battles offire-- bricks set slantwise, at each corner of the draft opening, towardthe side walls of the.

fire-box, which by excluding air from the little spaces behind them,create what may be described as vacuum pockets into which the flames aredrawn that would otherwise whip out o the fire-box under blast. Ninth:the employment of similar vacuum pockets or heat traps alohg the boilerfloor, or near the arch of escape, and the construc- .tion of that archin. such a manner as to cause the utmost possible reverberation of flameor flame-products, before the pull of the smoke-stack shall be allowedits way with the residuethat pull, while inevitably exercising anagitating influence tending to insure complete combustion, having beenrestrained by the abox. mentioned pockets or traps and the reverberatoryeffect of curved arches, from snatching away the heat-products untilthey have become relaof liquidity; and the oil being conducted to thefurnace through passages closedto the external atmosphere retains notonly its liquid condition but carries with it a body of. air-whichpromotes its combustion when delivered into the furnace; also it will befound free of th se.clogging, viscous clots certain to be for ned whensteam-pipes are used for heating purposes as seems to be invariably thecase.

(b) Means for controlling the quantity ofoil supplied to the furnace.This means comprises an automatic but controllable feedregulatorcomprising a chamber to which the oil is fed, with suitable inlet andoutlet passages and a float contained within the chamber, said floatoperating in conjunction with a movable valve or safety gate,controlling the supply of oil proportionally to the demandsofcombustion.

(0) Means for supplying oil to the flame.

These said means comprise a system of open distributin conduits andpreferably a p-ri mary supp y conduit into which the oil is deliveredand from which it overflows into a series of secondary conduits ordistributing troughs located immediately over the combustion chamber andsupplying oil by overflow'in thin streams or sheets, ordrops whichdescend through suitable checkerwork into the mass of flame beneath.

(el) A draft-flue which is shown as having an open .top is located inthe front wall of the furnace, interposing'a heat protecting and sounddeadening or blast deadening space between the fire and the operator.This flu'e has a breadth fully or nearly equal to that of the firebox,and a depth of but a few inches except at one place where it opens intoa chamber or caZ-(Ze-scw meant for the reception of the oil-distributingconduits or troughs said flue being provided with an outward-openingdoor, which will at any time permit the operator to look within, or atneed'withdraw and replace the conduit-s should they require a littlecleansing, with-' out materially delayin the work of the furnace. Belowthis (mle-sac the flue returns to its narrow depth, which. issufiiciently wide to accommodate a series of pipes opening at theirupper ends into the flue and communicating at their lower ends withsteam pipes by means of which air is drawn through the pipes from thefine and delivered to the combustion chamber.

(v) The provision of an always-open draft aperture in the furnace frontand wall, baffles and leading intov the lower part, of the combustionchamber;

(f) .The novel construction of the bridge heat pockets, above mentioned.I "1 In the accompanying drawings I have shown a typical arrangement ofa steam boiler furnace with my oil supplying device applied thereto andhave illustrated the details of construction of some of the parts' whichare of novel construction.

In said drawing Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view partly in section; andFig. 1. a detail view of the oil heating device; Fig. 2 is a transversesection through the boiler front, showing the oil distributing conduitsand twyers in elevation; Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view taken above thecombustion chamher and oil distributing conduits; and Fig.

4 is a sectional elevation of the oil supply ing device or safetygate.

In the accompanying drawings, 5, repre sents the oil heating means; 6,the feed regulator; 7, the fine formed within the furnace front; 8 and 9the oil distributing vessels; 10, the checker work through which the oilis delivered into the combustion chamber 11.

12 represents the twyers for supplying air to the combustion chamber;13, small steam pipes and 14 the natural draft opening.

The oil heating m-eans.-Said means coniprise in preferred construction asuitable heatconveying pipe, 15, which may be of elbow form, its lowerleg entering the oil heating chamber, 16, this pipe being adapted toconvey air to the chamber 16 and contain pressure, is a steam pipe, 18,fed fromany convenient supply, the steam pipe being extended into thebent leg of the air pipe by preference and the air being preferablysupplied under pressure to the air heating chamber so as to unseat thevalve, 17, and cause the air to be discharged into the body of oilcontained within the chamber. 16, near the bottom of said chamber, theair rising within the body of oil and imparting to the latter its heatuntil the oilis snliiciently warm to flow but never to the point ofeliminating the desirable gases contained within the oil itself. A smallvent opening may be provided in the top of the heating chamber 16, ifpreferred, to permit the escape of excess air therefrom. From the oilheating chamber, 16, the oil flows through the valved pipeto the feedregulator. 6, the internal construction of which is illustrated in Fig.

4. Said regulator comprises a float chamber, 19, containing the float,20, and a hollow cut-off valve, '21, which rests on top of the float andslides within the passage leading into the float chamber. This cut-offmay be manually controlled by means of the valve stem, 22, and the valvestem is preferably provided with the flexible diaphragm,

23, thus sealing the passage against the escape of gasesand renderingthe device safe in use. The safety device is preferably located near thefurnace front, which is provided with an opening, 24, leading into thefine 7, and normally closed by the door, 25. Below this opening thesupply pipe, 26, passes and delivers into the oil supply cons duit orheader, 8, located within the flue which has a lateral extension orcuZ-de-sac, 7. lVithin this latter is located a series of distributingconduits, 9, which are preferably arranged transversely to the header,8, and with their ends projecting beneath the same which is providedwith suitable overflow notches as indicated at 8, and the series ofdistributing conduits, 9, are also provided at their lateral marginswith notches, 9. Below the series of distributing conduits, 9, there isprovided checkerwork,'10, through which checkerwork the drops,'globules,or thin Streams of oil trickle directly into the combustion chamber, 11.The twyers, 12, lead from the lower portion 7, of the flue, T, anddeliver into the combustion chamber at a suitable elevation above itsfloor, well in front of the flame. The bridge wall, 27 is of suitableform to cause the reverberation of the flame within the combustionchamber and this effect maybe increased by the provision of projectingribs, 27*, formed of fire brick, set into the surface of the bridgewall. The throat of the furnace is obstructed by the heat traps 27",which may be composed of brick and are arranged out of alinement witheach other, with their major axes extending in the general direction ofthe length of said throat. 28 represent similar traps seton the floor ofthe combustion chamber near the draft opening.

Briefly described, the operation is as follows: '1; e oil is supplied tothe preliminary heating chamber, 16, and heated air is forcedtherethrough thus aerating and warming the oil which is permitted toflow by gravity through the feed regulator, the supply beingautomatically controlled by the float on firing and afterward manuallycontrolled by the valve. From the regulatt" the oil flows into thebottom of the header or main distributing conduit, 8, and filling thesame overflows into the series of distributing troughs or vessels, 9,and being further subdivided therein and by its passage through thecheckerwork below, is delivered into the combustion chamber. Ignitionmay be cffected by means of a torch thrust into the combustion chamberand combustion is sup-. ported by the air drawn into the chamber throughthe natural draft opening, 14. When combustion is once fairlyestablished, the partial vacuumcreated within the combustion chamber bythe draft of the stack suffices to draw in the needed quantity of airthrough thenatural draft opening and the twyers and also to take up andcompletely consume the oil supplied through the heating chamber and feedregulator. The flame impinging against the forward surface of the bridgewall, which is preferably forwardly extended, as shown, is caused toreverberate within the combustion chamber and the products of combustionon their passage to the stack are furtherdeflected and commingled so asto extract the heat therefrom. The supply of air being drawn in throughthe opening for natural draft and further enhanced by the twyers leadingfrom the flue, will at all times be adequate to the maintenance ofcombustion and the supply of oil is effected not alone by gravity,although this force is dependable, but also by reason of the vacuumresulting from the draft which aids in the supplying of the oil. Inoperation, the warmed oil'flows' through the feed regulator on to theheader and begins to drip into the secondary conduits or distributers.Meanwhile the cut-off valve of the feed regulator begins to close underthe action-of the float. After the oil begins to dripand ignition iseffected, the oil will be supplied in proportion to the rate ofcombustion, the regulator automatically 0011-, trolling the. supply.

I claim:

1. The herein describedmethod of burning fuel oil in furnaces, whichconsists in first aerating the oil, conducting the aerated permittingsaid drops or globules to drip into the combustion chamber, andintroducing a current of air over an approximately equal. area in thelower port-ion of the combustion chamber, substantially as described.

. equal to that of the combustion chamber and 2. The'herein describedmethod of burning-fuel oil which consists in first aerating the oil,feeding the aerated oil in the form of drops or globules, by gravity,into the upper portion of the combustion chamber, induc ing a current ofair to support combustion into the lower portion of the combustionchamber, and supplementing the induced draft by means of forced draftdelivered into the combustion chamber adjacent to the front of thefurnace, substantially as described.

3. An oil-burning furnace, havin an open top this arranged in thefurnace rout,

said flue having a chamber or pocket co1nmunicating therewith andextending laterally overthe combustion space of the furnace, and meansfor supplying oil to said chamber -or pocket, substantially asdescribed. I a

4. In an oil-burning furnace, an open top Hue located in the furnacefront and having a lateral. chamber or cul cle-sac extending over thecombustion space, an oil-distributer located in said chamber, aperforated partition between the combustion chamber and saiddistributer, and means for introducing oil to said distributer,substantially as described. 5. In an oil burning furnace a flue arrangedin the front wall ofv saidfurnace and having a lateral chamber extendinover the combustion space, and a lower feg below said lateral chamber, aseries of open top" 'distrlbuters or conduits arranged within saidchamber, a supply conduit or header arranged within the flue, means forintroducdistributors or conduits arranged withnosava in said cha1nber,-asupply conduit or header arranged within the flue, means for introducmgoil into said header, a series of twyers communicating with the lowerextension of the fine and with the combustion space, and means forcreating a forced draft through said twyers.

portion of said chamber, a forwardly curved fire arch or bridge wall,and a series'of battles arranged above the bridge wall and within thepassage for the products of combustion, substantially as and for thepurpose described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand, this 14th day of July,1906.

AMANDA T. Jones.

Witnesses: v

GHAS H. MANLEY, MARION I. MANLEY.

Copies '01 this patent may be obtained for five 'cents' each, byaddressing-the Commissioner of Patents; Washington, D; Ci

